Baseball scores: Blue Jays defeat Brewers

NEW YORK — Sean Rodriguez hit a tiebreaking homer in the sixth inning and drove in three runs, helping the streaking Tampa Bay Rays extend their longest winning string this year to five and hand the New York Yankees their season-worst fifth straight loss, 6-3 Wednesday.

Ben Zobrist doubled twice among his three hits for the Rays, but ran into two outs. With manager Joe Maddon encouraging his team to be more aggressive on the bases, Rodriguez was thrown out trying to stretch an RBI single to the wall in right field in the fourth.

The Rays won all three games at Yankee Stadium for their first road sweep since taking three in the Bronx from Sept. 24-26.

The Rays improved to 11 games under .500 for the first time in a month after falling 18 under on June 10. New York is below .500 at 41-42 for the first time since April 11.

NATIONALS 4, ROCKIES 3

WASHINGTON (AP) — After a replay review, Ian Desmond’s solo homer provided the go-ahead run for Washington and the victory that finished off a three-game sweep.

Jayson Werth also homered for Washington, which has won a season-high five straight.

Right-hander Matt Belisle (2-4) came on to face Desmond with one out in the seventh. Desmond’s hit appeared to bounce off the top of the wall in right centre, then off the railing in front of the first row and onto the field.

He ended up on third, but after a review that took 3:42, Desmond was given his 15th homer.

The Mariners were down by two before a four-run sixth inning, highlighted by Morrison’s double to right field off Brad Peacock (2-5) that put them on top. James Jones scored on a wild pitch in the inning and John Buck had an RBI single.

Young (8-4) allowed two hits — both solo homers — and struck out a season-high eight, his most since he fanned nine against Colorado in 2012. Fernando Rodney pitched a scoreless ninth for his 24th save.

Marwin Gonzalez and rookie Kike Hernandez homered for the Astros. Hernandez has three hits and two RBIs in two games since being called up from the minors.

BLUE JAYS 7, BREWERS 4

TORONTO (AP) — Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run, walk-off home run in the ninth inning and Toronto dealt Milwaukee its third straight loss.

Jose Bautista and Juan Francisco also connected for the Blue Jays, who have hit a major league-high 113 home runs this season.

Facing Will Smith (1-1), Jose Reyes led off the ninth with a double that left fielder Elian Herrera dove for but couldn’t handle. Melky Cabrera was intentionally walked and Brandon Kintzler came on to face Anthony Gose, who failed to advance the runners with a bunt when Reyes was forced at third.

Darin Mastroianni struck out but Encarnacion ended it with a drive into the second deck in left, his 26th.

Encarnacion is tied for the major league lead with White Sox rookie Jose Abreu and Baltimore’s Nelson Cruz.

Casey Janssen (3-0) worked one inning for the win.

TIGERS 9, ATHLETICS 3

DETROIT (AP) — Torii Hunter hit three RBI singles and capped a six-run burst in the sixth inning that propelled Detroit to a three-game sweep.

The three-time AL Central champion Tigers won for the 11th time in 13 games. The division leaders reached the halfway mark with a 47-34 mark.

Oakland still has the best record in the majors despite its stumble at Comerica Park.

Justin Verlander (7-7) won for the first time since May 30. He looked like he might be in trouble when Coco Crisp and Brandon Moss hit long homers off him in the first inning, but left after the sixth with a 9-2 lead.

Jesse Chavez (6-5) struggled for the second straight start, giving up five runs in five-plus innings. Reliever Jim Johnson replaced him and allowed four runs while only getting one out.

ORIOLES 6, RANGERS 4

BALTIMORE (AP) — Adam Jones and Ryan Flaherty hit solo homers, and Baltimore beat Texas for the third straight time in a game delayed 1 hour, 38 minutes by rain.

The Rangers have lost eight consecutive road games, their longest such stretch since 2005.

The Orioles (45-39) moved six games over .500, equaling a season-high.

Jones hit his 16th home run of the season and had three RBIs. Flaherty, who started at third base in place of the suspended Manny Machado, hit his fourth homer of the season.

Baltimore has homered in 12 consecutive games.

Orioles right-hander Brad Brach (2-0) entered in the sixth and earned the victory by throwing 1 1-3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts. Zach Britton earned his 11th save with a perfect ninth.

PADRES 3, REDS 0

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Tyson Ross threw a three-hitter for his first career shutout and Rene Rivera hit a three-run single off big league ERA leader Johnny Cueto to give San Diego to its first three-game sweep since September.

The Padres, who tied their season high with their fourth straight win, hadn’t swept a series since Sept. 6-8 against Colorado.

Ross (7-8) was dominating in throwing his first complete game in 55 career starts. He struck out nine and walked none.

With the bases loaded and two outs in the first, Rivera hit a blooper to the gap that hit off the heel of the glove of diving centre fielder Billy Hamilton to give San Diego a 3-0 lead.

Cueto (8-6) came in with the best ERA in the majors, 1.88. It rose to 1.99.

CUBS 16, RED SOX 9

BOSTON (AP) — Justin Ruggiano, Mike Olt and Welington Castillo hit two-run homers to power Chicago in the finale of a three-game interleague series sweep.

Ruggiano drove in five runs, Darwin Barney had four hits and Nate Schierholtz added a solo homer for Chicago, which won for the sixth time in seven games away from Wrigley Field and posted its first interleague sweep of three or more games since taking three from Cleveland in 2009.

It was the Cubs’ first interleague sweep on the road since winning three against the crosstown rival White Sox in 2007.

Mookie Betts hit his first major league homer for the Red Sox, who lost for the ninth time in 13 games.

Red Sox DH David Ortiz became the 36th player in major league history to collect 1,000 extra-base hits with a ground-rule double.

WHITE SOX 3, ANGELS 2

CHICAGO (AP) — Leury Garcia drove in the winning run with a pinch-hit single off Michael Morin in the ninth inning to lift Chicago to victory.

The White Sox shook off a doubleheader sweep and finally took out the Angels after dropping their first five games against Los Angeles this season and seven straight overall.

Alejandro De Aza, who entered earlier as a runner for Paul Konerko, started the winning rally with a one-out single in the ninth off Morin (2-2). Conor Gillaspie followed with a broken-bat single past a diving Albert Pujols at first base to put runners on the corners.

The Angels then brought in Kole Calhoun to replace right fielder Collin Cowgill and serve as the second baseman as part of a five-man infield. Garcia, batting for Moises Sierra, lined a 2-1 pitch to left to drive in De Aza.

Ryan Raburn homered off Hyun-Jin Ryu, who was lifted after seven with a 3-2 lead.

Wilson (1-3) retired only one of the six batters he faced, giving up a tying single by pinch-hitter David Murphy and Aviles’ clutch hit after an intentional walk to Lonnie Chisenhall.

Brian Shaw (3-1) pitched a scoreless seventh to get the victory.

Scott Atchison gave up a solo homer by Scott Van Slyke in the eighth. Cody Allen got four outs for his eighth save, retiring Matt Kemp on a flyball to the warning track with the potential tying and winning runs in scoring position.

The Braves extended their season-best winning streak to seven games. The Mets have lost four straight and seven of their last eight games and are a season-worst 11 games below .500.

Teheran (8-5) gave up four hits and three walks while lowering his ERA to 2.29. Jordan Walden pitched a perfect ninth for his third save as closer Craig Kimbrel received a night off.

The NL East-leading Braves remain one-half game ahead of Washington.

New York rookie Jacob deGrom (1-5) was undone by his season-long control problems in a long first inning.

PIRATES 5, DIAMONDBACKS 1

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Gregory Polanco homered, Charlie Morton continued his effective pitching at home and Pittsburgh won for the fifth time in six games.

Polanco, a highly touted rookie who has reached safely in 19 of 21 major league games, had a double, a walk and his third home run for Pittsburgh, which clinched its fourth consecutive series victory.

Polanco’s line-drive shot to right off Chase Anderson in the second inning gave the Pirates a 3-0 lead.

Paul Goldschmidt went 3 for 4 with a run for the Diamondbacks, who have lost three straight.

Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates, who earlier in the day was named NL player of the month for June, did not play the field in the ninth inning. He fouled a ball off his foot and winced in pain in the eighth, but continued his at-bat and singled. There was no immediate word if McCutchen was injured.

Tom Koehler (6-6) allowed three hits in six innings and earned his first victory since June 4. Three relievers completed a five-hitter.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit a two-run homer in the ninth, his eighth. The Marlins, who lead the majors in home victories, clinched the three-game series and improved to 27-21 at Marlins Park.

Cole Hamels (2-5) gave up three runs and needed 97 pitches to get through five innings, ending his career-best 10-game streak of pitching at least seven innings. Hamels, a victim of poor run support all season, remained winless since June 6.

The Phillies were shut out for the 11th time, which is tied for second-most in the majors.

ROYALS 4, TWINS 0

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jason Vargas threw seven scoreless innings and Raul Ibanez homered in his second game for Kansas City.

Vargas (8-3) allowed four singles and two walks while striking out five, allowing only two runners from a diluted Twins lineup to reach second base.

Mike Moustakas and Jarrod Dyson hit RBI singles in the second inning against Kevin Correia (4-10). With Joe Mauer missing on the disabled list because of a strained muscle on his right side, the Twins were shut out for the sixth time this season and lost for the seventh time in their last nine games.

CARDINALS 2, GIANTS 0

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Adam Wainwright allowed four hits over 7 2-3 innings, Matt Carpenter continued to feast on San Francisco pitching and the St. Louis Cardinals ended a scoring drought, beating the Giants.

Carpenter had three hits and drove in a run, improving to .520 (26 for 50) against the Giants to help the Cardinals end a three-game losing streak. Matt Holliday added two hits and an RBI.

Wainwright (11-4) took over the NL lead in ERA (1.89) and wins. He walked two and struck out one and his infielders combined to record 18 outs. Trevor Rosenthal recorded the final three outs for his 25th save.

Ryan Vogelsong (5-5) gave up two runs and six hits over seven innings.